1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steer roping training device and, more particularly, to a self-powered, self-guiding trackless, mechanical device having the general appearance of a steer for use in the training of steer roping.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the sport of steer roping, whether it be individual or team roping, has become a very popular pastime across the nation. When practiced individually, the sport consists of chasing a steer across an arena and attempting to rope the horns of the steer. In team roping, a second rider attempts, after the first rider has roped the steer by the horns, to rope both of the hind legs of the steer.
It is therefore apparent that in order to practice the sport of steer roping, one must have an adequate size arena and one or more steers. However, steers for this purpose are in short supply and the ones that are available are expensive, require feeding and housing and the like.
In order to solve this problem, it has been proposed to provide a mechanical animal for use as a training aid. Prior mechanical animals have fallen into two general categories. One type, as represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,303,821 and 3,324,832, have self-contained power sources and are, therefore, quite elaborate and expensive. The mechanical animal of the first-listed patent even includes a radio transmitter for controlling the operation of same. Thus, these types of mechanical animals are far too expensive for widespread use. The other type of mechanical animal, as represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,711,098 and 3,776,553, are substantially simpler and do not include power sources. However, in these cases, the animal is so highly simplified that it does not represent a realistic training device.